Carnegie Mellon ECE Capstone, Spring 2026: Ore Abolade, Bonnie Ji, and Nicholas Piñon
Weekly Progress Update
This week, I developed the basic structure of the iPhone app and began setting up communication logic for connecting to the Raspberry Pi. I researched how to obtain GPS data from the phone and worked on calculating the sun’s position based on location and time. From this, I derived the angle needed for the umbrella to rotate to provide optimal shade.
I worked this week on deciding on the best motors we planned to use based on the requirements of our project. I have worked on initial designs of how the motors will interact with the umbrella; I also looked into different umbrellas/canopies we’re going to purchase, along with the best material/fabrication to use so the arms and joints don’t put too much pressure on the motor.s
My work is currently on schedule with the reworked schedule that we put into place after our project changes from Professor and TA feedback. Next week, I hope that once we acquire a camera, our motors, and the umbrella/canopy, I can start making progress towards the implementation of the lighting calibration and user detection.
I worked this week on selecting the motor components we planned to use with Ore based on the requirements of our project. We have currently selected NEMA 17 motors using a planetary gear set which we felt would best fit the project requirements. I have worked on preliminary designs of how the motors will interact with the umbrella but until we receive the physical umbrella.
The project is currently on schedule with our reworked schedule that we put into place post our project reconfiguration. We were also initially planning to use a Raspberry Pi 5 from the inventory but since they all have been reserved we will need to either buy one or transition back to using the Jetson that we already have. This week I hope that once we receive the umbrella I can make significant progress in the initial CAD designs of how the motors will interface with the gearing of the umbrella.
At this stage, my primary challenge is ensuring that the software architecture remains scalable as more hardware components are finalized. Since the perception system, motor control logic, and mobile app will eventually operate together, I want to make sure the foundation I build now can support added complexity later. If integration becomes more complicated than expected, I can refactor the structure into smaller, more modular components to keep the system organized and maintainable.
Over the past week, I focused on designing the structural layout for the arms and joints while also progressing on the perception and estimation framework. On the software side, I outlined the full integration workflow and implemented the initial project setup in Xcode using Swift. I established the core architecture and built the essential functions to create a stable starting point for continued development and testing.
The biggest risk right now is making sure the motors can provide enough torque to move and hold the umbrella. Since umbrella size and weight greatly affect the required torque, we are estimating these values early and researching appropriate stepper motors and gear ratios. If the torque requirements end up being too high, we can reduce the canopy size or use additional gearing or mechanical support to reduce the load on the motors.
We’ve started working on the arms and joints design, and perception & estimation components.
This week, I focused primarily on researching the feasibility and technical requirements of the individual components needed for our product. I spent time analyzing the torque requirements for the motor to ensure it will be capable of handling the expected load, including estimating forces and mechanical constraints involved in the system. In addition, I worked on calculating the battery capacity we will need by considering the power consumption of the motor and other electronic components, as well as estimating the desired operating time to ensure the system can function reliably without frequent recharging. I also researched the umbrella-related mechanical components, including possible mounting mechanisms, structural support, and how the opening and closing mechanism could be integrated with our motorized system.
Alongside this research, I continued coordinating with my team to share findings and help refine our design decisions. This research was important in helping us better understand the technical feasibility of our design and in identifying appropriate components that meet our performance requirements. While much of this week was focused on research rather than physical implementation, it was necessary to ensure that our design choices are realistic and achievable within the project timeline. Moving forward, I plan to use this research to help finalize component selection, begin sourcing parts, and support the transition from conceptual design to prototyping.
A lot happened this week with the project. Our team was given critical feedback concerning the viability of our drone based proposal for providing shade that made us have to reconsider the entire approach. This required revisiting almost all of the decisions and research we did for the initial proposal. We divided these tasks up between us to try to accomplish this as quickly as possible.
We are slightly behind where we would like to be considering the setback with reconsidering our project idea. The design proposal offers a nice chance to get back onto schedule with the deliverables that are due. With all the documents that we prepare for the proposal we can update our gantt chart with updated tasks, deliverables and dates. We might have to slightly eat into our slack time but I am confident we will be able to get back on target.
Since we were not able to do it this week we need to ensure that our entire list of critical materials are ordered by the start of next week. Most should be chosen in the design proposal creation process, but any decisions that are not made should be made by this point. After that I can begin more specific CAD design on the important physical components of the umbrella.
This week, we had several meetings about our intended product and its feasibility within the scope of the semester. The major risk now is that we decided to pivot away from working with drones, so we then spent the next few days doing some research on our other ideas for the upcoming design review presentation, ultimately helping to pinpoint and flesh out a new idea we can go with for our capstone project. To mitigate the risk of the success of our project, we are actively keeping our designated professor and TA in the loop throughout the whole process. The main change we made to our existing design is removing drone usage for the shade provider and moving to a more stationary design. This change was necessary beacuse not only is drone autonomous flight challenging to get done within one semester, but there were also outside factors that weren’t initially considered: getting permission from CMU to fly a drone, and/or having to locate an area to fly a drone, and to continue to use drones, we would need to review the CMU code for rules and requirements. No more cost was incurred from this change; costs were redistributed across new components of our design.
A was written by Bonnie, B was written by Ore, and C was written by Nicholas.
B: From a social perspective, beaches are shared public spaces that bring together diverse groups across age, ability, and economic backgrounds. Not everyone has the same physical strength or mobility to repeatedly adjust a heavy umbrella in sand, particularly older adults, individuals with disabilities, or caregivers managing children. By reducing the physical effort required to maintain shade, our solution promotes greater accessibility and inclusivity in recreational spaces. Additionally, in hot coastal regions where extreme sun exposure can pose health risks, improving access to reliable shade supports public health and encourages longer, safer social interaction in outdoor environments.
This week, we had several meetings about our intended product and its feasibility within the scope of the semester. We decided to pivot away from working with drones, so I then spent the next few days doing some research on our other ideas for the upcoming design review presentation, ultimately helping to pinpoint and flesh out a new idea we can go with for our capstone project, actively keeping our designated professor and TA in the loop. Our collective progress is a bit behind due to us having to pivot from our initial capstone project, which also means I’m individually behind in what I had initially planned for the week. I am working towards getting the design review presentation done on time first, and then start gathering components and resources we’ll need to start building out our product in the coming week.
This week, I focused on doing research for our proposed sensing, computation, and communication approach for our system. I also researched hardware requirements needed to run efficient, lightweight CV models: camera modules, CSI connectors, and mounting considerations. I looked into the hardware options for our drone, comparing different levels of assembly, and seeing which one is the most feasible and optimal for us. I also looked at obstacle avoidance requirements, weighing the pros and cons of 2D vs 3D implementations. Finally, I began looking into what canopy design and material would be best suited to our use cases, and would have minimal impact on our overall drone flight stability and accuracy. Next week, we’re looking into actually acquiring a drone, and then I’ll begin component-flight controller communication setup with the team. I’ll also try to start building the Git repository with all the pipelines and models we’ll be using. My progress is on schedule.